Artificial tooth



Sept. 14,1948. Q H T I 2,449,522

ARTIFICIAL TOOTH Filed April 3 1945 3mm ALBERT H. WHITE Patented Sept. 1 4, 1948 OFFICE ARTIFICIAL 'roo'rn Albert H. White, Washington D. o. Application April 3, 1945, Serial No. 586,339

isolates. (01. 32-8) I The present invention relates to artificial teeth and the present application is a continuation in part of my pending application Serial Number 541,924, filed June 24, 1944.

Attempts have been made to substitute artificial teeth in the maxilla and mandible of human beings to replace extracted natural teeth.

The present device has for one of its objects the provision of an artificial tooth, having means for engaging the maxilla or mandible.

Another object of the present invention is the provisions of means for securely anchoring artificial teeth in the osseous structure. 1

A still further object of the present invention is the provision of semi-resilient anchoring means.

A still further object of the present invention is the provision of means permitting access to the socket area for treatment and stimulation after the artificial root has been placed in situ.

A still further object of the present invention is the provision of means for closing the means permitting access to the socket area for treatment.

A still further object of the present invention is the provision of means for limiting the amount of material that may come in contact with the bone and mucosa. i

A still further object of the present invention is the provision of means for drainage from the socket and mucosa.

A still further object of the present invention is the provision of an artificial tooth that may be made of any suitable material.

Other objects and advantages of,the invention will be apparent from the following description when used in conjunction with the drawings in which similar characters of reference indicate like parts throughout the several views.

Referring to the drawings;

Figure 1 is an elevational view of an root.

Figure 2 is an elevational view of Figure 1 looking in the direction of the arrows as shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3 is a top plan view of Figure 1.

Figure 4 isa bottom plan View of Figure 1.

Figure 5 is a vertical sectional view taken on line 5-5 of Figure 3 and illustrating the valve in closed position.

Figure 6 is an elevational view similar to Figure 1 and illustrating the crown in assembled position, a portion of the crown being broken away and in section and illustrating a portion of the valve stem as an anchoring means.

artificial Referring to the drawings, the numeral l0 represents an artificialtooth, comprising a body II on which may be mounted a crown portion l2. The body H is of a solid suitable material, and it comprises a base. portion 13 and ribs [4. The outer peripheral wall of the base at the lower portion is turned inwardly or rounded at l5, thus serving to prevent the mucosa from receding from the neck of the root implant.

The outer wall of the base portion is provided with channels ll that provide drainage means for the gums andsocket,'and a plurality of smaller channels lit for auxiliary drainage also limit the amount of mucosa and bone that may cont-act the wall, the portions I8 between: the channels l8 serving as a furtherstabilizing means.

The ribs I4, which, for clarity of illustration, are shown proportionately thinner than they are in actual practice, extend longitudinally from the base and are laterally spaced from each other by intervening kerfs, as shown in Figure 3. Actually they conform approximately to the irregularly conical shape of a natural root with intervening spaces for drainage. Each rib is represented by the numeral l9, and the outer edges of the ribs are laterally cut to form barbs 20 that serve as an anchoring means for the tooth. The inner edges 2| of the ribs M are in spaced relation to. one another, and due to this spacing a substantially axial opening or passageway 22 is provided for drainage from the entire root area. The ribs I4 have an inwardly curved or cut-out portion 23 or" preselected depth that incidentally prevents clogging and increases the resilience of the ribs for 'a purposeto be later described.

The base portion I3 is provided with a bore 2 and a smaller bore 25, the end of the bore being of atapereddiameter providing a valve seat 26. The bore 24 is provided with a material 2"! that is of a difier'ent consistency from the material in the base, and has an internally threaded bore 28 that communicates with the bore 25. The bores 25 and 28 receive a valve stem 29 that is provided with threads 30 that engage the internal threads in the threaded bore 28. The portion 3i of the valve stem 29 is housed in the bore 25 and is provided with a tapered end 32 that engages the valve seat 26 for closing the bore when in place. The opposite portion 33 of the valve stem may be of any shape and length for the permanent stem upon which the crown i2 is afifixed, as shown in Figure 6, and short, usually square, for tool engaging means in removing and inserting the temporary valve stem,

whose purpose is to exclude oral debris from the bore.

In Figure 2 it is to be noted that the top face 3 3 of the base between the ribs- I4 is disposed at a downwardly inclined angle providing drainage from the entire socket to the major channels I! and minor channels l8.

In the application of my device, the body ll, made slightly oversize, is driven into a cavity made b the extraction of a tooth or a hole drilled into the jaw bone. The permanent long valve stem is in assembled position at the time of the insertion for ease of handling, being removed thereafter and replaced with a short temporary stem, or the bore is left open in the case of an upper tooth, thus leaving no part of the implant protruding from the socket to disturb immobilization necessary for osteogenesis around the implant, which is initially rendered immobile by impingement of the resilient oversize ribs.

Ihe provision of the rounded portion, or the inwardly disposed outer peripheral 'wall of the root to meet varying conditions, provides a means that prevents the mucosa or gum receding from the neck of the root during adapting stage of making the foreign tooth body acceptable to bone and mucosa. During this stage the regen crating bone becomes embedded between the barbs as the ribs, which have been contracted to their dotted line positions 350i Figure 5, tend to expand, by reason of the inherent resilience of the material of which they are made, to their normal position shown at 19, thus completing immobilization of the implant. The channels ll and it provide means for drainage during the regeneration stage, the portions 1'8 serving as a means for limiting the amount ofmucosa and bone that may contact. the wall of the lower root portion. If it is found necessary to irrigate the socket manually, a syringe 3.6, as shown in Figure 8 is used. The threaded end 37 is screwed into the threaded portion 28. Otherwise the entire implant and size of the bore with major and minor drainage channels provide for evacuation of residual exudates in the same manner. .as accomplished in an open socket, with an additional advantage of closing any socket in the mandible or lower jaw, against ingress of debris With possibility of infection, while making immediately accessible daily the cleansing and stimulating effects of induced and natural evacuation and irrigation.

What I claim is:

1. An artificial tooth comprising a body having base and root portions, said root portion including a plurality of longitudinal ribs each joined at its inner end to the base portion by a resilient connection and the entire extent of each rib outwardly beyond said connection being free and unsupported and having an outer longitudinal edge of said free and unsupported portion adapted to engage a longitudinal zone of a tooth socket and being urged into tight anchoring contact with the socket by the resilience of said connection.

2. An artificial tooth comprising an integral body of resilient material having base and root portions, said root portion being longitudinally divided into laterally spaced ribs which are free and unsupported outwardly beyond their junction with the base portion and which have outer edges adapted 'to make contact with longitudinal zones of a tooth socket into which the root portion is driven and to be expanded into 'said contact by the resilience of said material, each of said edges in the socket walls.

3. An artificial tooth comprising an integral body of resilient material having base and root portions, said root portion having an outer peripheral surface conforming substantially to the inner surface of a tooth socket and having longitudinal kerfs dividing the root portion into laterally spaced ribs each of which is free and unsupported outwardly beyond its junction with the base portion and all of which have outer edges,

adapted to make contact with longitudinal zones of the socket, the resilience of the material tending to expand said edges into tight frictional engagement with said zones of the socket.

4. An artificial tooth comprising an integral body of resilient material having base and root portions, said root port-ion having an outer peripheral surface conforming substantially to the inner surface of a tooth socket and having longtiudinal kerfs dividing the root portion into laterally spaced ribs, each of said ribs being free and unsupported outwardly beyond its junction with the base portion and having an outer edgeprovided with transverse cuts forming a plurality of barbs, and the resilience of the material tending to expand the ribs to embed the barbed edges thereof into the socket walls.

5. An artificial tooth comprising a body having base and root portions, said root portion ineluding a plurality of longitudinal ribs separated by an axial bore and radial kerfs, said ribs being connected with the base portion only and being otherwise unconnected to each other, and said base portion having an axial bore communicating with the bore of the root portion and having pe- 1 r-ipheral longitudinal "channels communicating with the radial kerfs of the root portion, whereby the axial bores and the kerfs and channels provide passageways for irrigation and drainage.

6. An artificial tooth comprising a body of resilient material having a base portion provided with an axial bore and peripheral longitudinal channels and having a root portion including a plurality of longitudinal ribs having one end of each resiliently connected to the base portion and being otherwise unconnected to each other, the inner edges of the ribs being spaced apart to-provide an intervening axial bore aligned with the bore of the base and said ribs being separated from each other by radial kerfs forming passageways communicating with the channels of the base portion, and each rib being expansi-ble, by the resilience of the connection of said ri'b with the base portion, to force the outer edges of the ribs into tight frictional contact with longitudinal zones of a tooth socket.

7. An artificial toothcoinprising a body of resil lent material having a base portion provided with an axial bore and peripheral longitudinal channels and having a root portion including a plurality-of longitudinal ribs having one end of each resiliently connected to the base portion and being otherwise unconnected to each other, the inner edges of the ribs being spaced apart to provide an intervening axial bore aligned with-the bore of the base and said ribs being separated from each other by radial kerfs forming passageways communicating with the channels of the base portion, and the outer edge of each rib being provided with lateral cuts forming barbs and being expansible, by the resilience of the connection of said rib with the base portion, into embedding engagement of the barbs into the walls of the tooth socket.

8. An artificial tooth comprising an axially bored base portion, longitudinallyextending root ribs connected to each other by means of a connection to the base portion only, said connection being resilient, and separated from each other by an axial bore and .by radial kerfs and inherently expansi'ble by the resilience of said connection into tight frictional engagement with the walls of a tooth socket, and means for plugging the bore of the base portion.

9. An artificial tooth comprising an axially bored base portion, longitudinally extending root ribs resiliently connected to the base portion and otherwise entirely separated from each other by radial kerfs and by an axial bore cooperating with the bore of the base portion to provide a central drainage passageway and inherently expansibleinto tight frictional engagement with the Walls of a tooth socket, a valve seat formed in said drainage passageway, and a valve for said seat.

10. An artificial tooth comprising a body h-av root portion is expanded into engagement with the tooth socket along at least three substantially equally spaced longitudinal lines.

11. An artificial tooth comprising a base portion having an internally threaded axial bore, longitudinally extending root ribs resiliently connected to the base portion and otherwise entirely separated from each other by an axial bore and by radial kerfs and inherently expansible into tight frictional engagement with the walls of a tooth socket, and a plug threaded into the bore of the base portion for closing said bore.

12. An artificial tooth comprising a base portion having an internally threaded axial bore, longitudinally extending root ribs resiliently connected to the base portion and otherwise entirely separated from each other by radial kerfs and by an axial bore cooperating with the bore of the base portion to provide a central drainage passageway and inherently expansible into tight frictional engagement with the walls of a tooth socket, a valve seat formed in said drainage Dassageway, and a valve stem threaded into the bore of the base portion and cooperating with said valve seat.

ALBERT H. WHITE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 943,113 Green-field Dec. 14, 1909 2,347,567 Kresse Apr. 25, 1944 2,258,207 Irwin Oct. 7, 1941 2,112,007 Adams Mar. 22, 1938 

